Sugar Ray Leonard

For more information on Sugar Ray Leonard, visit Britannica.com.

American boxer Sugar Ray Leonard (born 1956) earned an unprecedented six world championship titles in five weight classes during a twenty-year professional career. An Olympic gold medalist while an amateur, Leonard fought in some of the most memorable professional matches in boxing history.

From Singing to Boxing

The future boxing champ was born Ray Charles Leonard on May 17, 1956, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. His parents, Getha and Cicero Leonard, had seven children. Leonard grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Palmer, Maryland.

His mother named him after the famous singer Ray Charles because she wanted him to become a singer. And he did have vocal talent: he sang in church with his two sisters, and congregants told Getha Leonard that her son sounded like rhythm-and-blues artist Sam Cooke.

By the time Leonard reached his early teens, his interests turned to boxing. During this period, Leonard, a quiet youngster, was living in Palmer, a racially mixed, lower-middle-class suburb of Baltimore. Two local volunteer boxing coaches recognized his natural talents and began training him. As a fighter, Leonard immediately demonstrated skill and finesse in the ring. Later, his smooth approach would contrast with that of the brawlers and sluggers he battled and surpass that of the other stylists he faced. Eventually, he would adopt the same "Sugar" nickname used by legendary boxer Ray Robinson, who is regarded by many as the most skillful technical fighter of all time.

Won Olympic Gold Medal

Only fourteen years old, Leonard entered the amateur boxing ranks and put together an outstanding record, winning 145 of 150 fights. In six years, he won two National Golden Glove championships (1973, 1974), two Amateur Athletic Union championships (1974, 1975), and a gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games.

Leonard crowned the amateur phase of his career by winning a gold medal in the light welterweight class in the 1976 Olympic games in Montreal. It was a star-making turn. Leonard came into the final match as an underdog facing Cuban knockout specialist Andres Aldama. Even before the match began, Leonard won the hearts of the live crowd and a national television audience by displaying a picture of his son on the side of his boot. During the fight, Leonard, in dramatic fashion, overcame intense pain in both his hands to score a unanimous 5-0 decision.

Turned Pro

After winning the gold medal, Leonard announced his intentions to retire from boxing, claiming he had fulfilled his dream. However, it turned out to be the first of several premature retirements. Initially, Leonard wanted to make money from commercial endorsements and then attend Harvard to become a lawyer. But the plan collapsed when it was revealed that Juanita Wilkinson, the mother of his illegitimate son, had filed a paternity suit in an effort to get food stamps. It was a public relations disaster that killed any hopes for endorsement contracts. In addition, family bills were mounting due to his father's illness, so the 20-year-old Leonard, lured by a $500,000 offer from boxing promoters, decided to turn professional. Immediately aligning himself with the best people, he hired Angelo Dundee, Muhammad Ali's former trainer, to be his boxing manager and attorney Mike Trainer to be his business manager.

In his first fight, televised live on February 5, 1977, Leonard defeated Luis Vega, a tough Puerto Rican boxer, in a six-round decision. It was the first of 25 straight victories for Leonard, who would go on to win a record-breaking six world titles in five weight classes in a career that featured some of the best fights in the history of sports: memorable matches against Wilfred Benetiz, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler.

Throughout his career, Leonard continually confounded doubters who did not think he could beat the likes of Duran, Hearns, or Hagler. He possessed speed, power, and skill, and he was also smart. He knew how to analyze opponents and then develop a strategy to defeat them. Though not a slugger, he was a dangerous boxing artist with fast hands. His quickness enabled him to deliver left hooks, jabs, uppercuts, and crosses with deadly accuracy. His skills coupled with his vibrant personality made him a bright star at a time when the sport needed a new one. The era of Muhammad Ali was coming to an end.

Comparisons to Ali were inevitable and applicable. Famed sportscaster Howard Cosell even called Leonard the "new Muhammad Ali." Like Ali before him, Leonard divided boxing fans into two camps: those who loved him and those that felt he was arrogant. (To some, taking the nickname of "Sugar Ray" seemed the height of hubris.) His followers claimed that Leonard's perceived arrogance was merely confidence because, like Ali before him, Leonard made good on his boasts. He fought in what has been deemed the greatest era in the history of boxing's welter-weight division and emerged as the best.

Won First Boxing Title

Leonard's two-year unbeaten streak of 25 matches (15 by knockout) earned him a title shot against reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion Wilfredo Benitez, who was also undefeated as a pro. On November 30, 1979, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Leonard scored a 15-round technical knockout (TKO) with only six seconds left in the fight. It was an impressive win. Benitez, a future boxing Hall of Famer, was one of the great defensive fighters of all time. The following year, Leonard married Wilkinson, the mother of his son.

Roberto Duran's "No Mas"

Leonard held the title less than seven months. He lost the belt in his second title defense, on June 20, 1980, when he went up against the tough Panamanian Roberto Duran in the first of their three classic matches. In front of a large crowd at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Duran scored a close but unanimous decision, handing Leonard the first loss of his professional career.

The fight, probably the most anticipated non-heavyweight bout in the history of the sport up to that time, was billed as "The Brawl in Montreal," as the fighters disliked each other intensely. Leading up to the match, Duran wickedly taunted Leonard, and boxing observers believed Duran's mental tactics greatly influenced the fight's outcome. Leonard surprised onlookers by abandoning his usually smooth approach and adopting Duran's rough style. The fighters went "toe to toe" in a slugfest, and in the second round Duran stunned Leonard with a left hook that almost dropped the champion. Afterward, the battle went back and forth over the course of 13 rounds, but Duran fought better. Leonard's heroic image was tarnished and his large ego bruised.

"The fight in Montreal was not a boxing match," Leonard later recalled in an interview for ESPN. "It was a street brawl. I didn't utilize my skills there. I was determined to stand my ground and fight Duran his way. I don't like Duran's way. He walks around like he owns the world."

Five months later, Leonard got his revenge in one of the most famous and strangest boxing matches ever fought. In a rematch held November 25, 1980, in the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana - an event even more anticipated than their first battle - Leonard came back determined to fight his own fight. The plan worked. Through the first six rounds, Leonard outboxed the increasingly frustrated Duran. By the seventh round, Leonard was taunting and goading his ineffective opponent. Finally, with 17 seconds to go in the eighth round, Duran turned away from Leonard, walked back to his corner, threw up his hands, and told the referee "no mas" ("no more"). Referee Octavio Meyran, disbelieving, told Duran to continue, but Duran only repeated "no mas, no mas." Duran had given up, and that phrase would be forever linked to his otherwise remarkable boxing career. "I was just as befuddled as everyone else and shocked," Leonard recalled in an interview with ABC's "Wide World of Sports" for the show's fortieth anniversary. "But I thought it was a trick. I thought Duran was trying to get me closer. You know, trying to walk away and say, 'Ah, no,' then punch me. In fact the referee had no idea what was going on. And then Duran said, 'No mas, no mas,' and then the referee ended the fight so I walked away. People remember Duran, not because of his great fights with Hagler, Davey Moore, me, or Benitez. They remember, 'No mas, no mas.'" Technically, the fight was scored a knockout, and Leonard was champion once again.

Second Title, Second Retirement

Leonard retained his title with a tenth-round knockout of Larry Bonds. Then, in June 1981, he moved up to the light-middleweight class and scored a ninth-round knockout over World Boxing Association (WBA) title holder Ayub Kalule in Houston. To celebrate winning his second boxing title, Leonard performed a back flip in the ring.

Leonard immediately relinquished the WBA title and, on September 16, 1981, in Las Vegas, he returned to the welterweight division for a title unification match with WBA champion Thomas Hearns, a man who was both his friend and archrival. The match turned out to be a war, a true boxing classic. Both fighters took turns playing the roles of slugger and technical boxer. Hearns, nicknamed the "Hit Man," was a talented and powerful fighter, and he was beating Leonard through twelve brutal rounds. However, Leonard battled back in the thirteenth and, with one eye all but swelled completely shut, he knocked Hearns to the floor twice. Finally, Leonard won the fight in the fourteenth round by a TKO when the referee was forced to stop the fight as Leonard pounded Hearns on the ropes. With the titles now unified, Leonard became the undisputed world welter-weight champion.

Leonard successfully defended the title twice. In the meantime, a highly talent fighter had risen to the top of the middleweight ranks. "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler, as he was billed, possessed excellent technical skills, a powerful punch, and a rather surly disposition. It seemed inevitable that Leonard and Hagler would meet. However, before Leonard's next scheduled title defense, doctors discovered that he had a detached retina. Leonard underwent surgery in May 1982 and, six months later, he announced that he was retiring from the ring. This disappointed boxing fans who had eagerly awaited a match-up with Hagler. But Leonard did not want to risk possible blindness in his surgically treated eye.

However, like his previous retirement, Leonard's announcement proved premature. After being inactive for 27 months, he returned to the ring in May 1984 and scored a ninth-round TKO over Kevin Howard. Despite the outcome, Leonard was less than impressive as Howard, a journeyman fighter, knocked him to the canvas for the first time in his career. After the match, Leonard announced yet again that he was retiring.

During his periods of inactivity, Leonard took a job as a boxing commentator with the HBO cable TV network and endorsed products. He also started the short-lived Sugar Ray Leonard television network from Maryland, which featured 24-hour boxing news, interviews, and fights.

Returned to Face Hagler

In 1986, the boxing world learned that Leonard was training again and considering a match with Hagler. At last the long-awaited fight was scheduled for April 6, 1987. Many ring observers believed that the up-and-coming Hagler, a ruthless fighter, would easily handle Leonard, who had not fought in three years. However, Leonard scored what Ring magazine called the "Upset of the Decade" when he beat Hagler on points. The outcome was controversial, as the decision was split among the judges. Nevertheless, Leonard had won the WBC middleweight crown, his third title. No fighter had ever won on his first try back at a world title after such a long layoff. Leonard earned about $12 million for one night of work. Once again he announced his retirement.

Retiring and returning was becoming a matter of routine, it seemed. One of the reasons Leonard made so many comebacks is that he could not handle retirement very well. "He had to change his whole life to be Sugar Ray Leonard," his first wife Juanita said during an interview with ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" television series. "And still today, down inside, it's Ray Leonard. But Sugar Ray Leonard won't let him out."

Later, it was learned that during his several retirements in the 1980s, Leonard missed the action so much that he began using cocaine and alcohol as adrenaline substitutes. Leonard admitted he used cocaine from 1984 to 1989. He would later kick both habits, but not before the substance abuse irreparably damaged his marriage. He and Juanita divorced in 1990.

Another Comeback, More Titles

In November 1988 Leonard once again came out of retirement. Now weighing 167 pounds, he faced the hard-punching Don Lalonde. The solidly built Canadian knocked Leonard down early in their match, but Leonard battled back to score a ninth-round knockout that garnered him both Lalonde's WBC light heavyweight title and the vacated WBC super middleweight title. Now with six world titles at five weights classes, Leonard became the most crowned fighter in boxing history.

Leonard successfully defended the super middleweight title twice against two old rivals, though his skills were starting to diminish. In a June 1989 rematch in Las Vegas, Leonard and Hearns battled to a twelve-round draw. Twice, Hearns knocked the champ to the floor, and observers said Leonard was lucky to come away with a draw. On December 7, 1989, Leonard and Duran faced each other for the third and final time. The match was a disappointment. Both fighters were past their prime, and the bout was rather uneventful. Leonard boxed cautiously and kept his distance while Duran had trouble catching up with his elusive foe. Leonard earned the twelve-round decision on points.

After the match Leonard again retired. But two years later, at age 34, he staged another return, this time in Madison Square Garden in New York City. He should have stayed home. For this comeback, he challenged WBC super welterweight champion Terry Norris and lost in a one-sided fight. Norris not only dominated the match, he knocked Leonard down twice.

That appeared to be the end of the road for Leonard, and it had been a marvelous ride. After he turned pro, Leonard won 35 of his first 36 fights, with 25 knockouts. Throughout his career, he had always managed to rise above most of the troubles that have plagued the sport and other fighters. He never found it necessary to sign on with the two controversial promoters who ruled boxing, Don King and Bob Arum. He remained an independent contractor who carved out his own career, keeping himself clean from the sport's ubiquitous corruption. However, he could not avoid the one mistake that has tarnished the careers of many great fighters: He could not resist the lure of "one more fight." In 1997, the year he was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Leonard, 40 years old, tried one more comeback. The results were even worse than before. He fought Hector Camacho, and the "Macho" man embarrassed him by knocking him out in the fifth round.

Leonard finished his career with 36 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw, and he earned an estimated $100 million in the ring - the most money ever made by a professional boxer up to that point. Despite the downbeat ending to his fighting career, he is still regarded as the best non-heavyweight boxer since his namesake, Sugar Ray Robinson.

Post-Ring Career

Though he remained retired, Leonard kept involved in the sport, working as a promoter. In 2001, at 47, Leonard launched Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing, LLC. As chairman of the board, he provided overall leadership and worked with fighters, promoters, television executives, venues, and boxing commissioners to plan boxing events.

Outside the ring, during various retirements, Leonard also worked as a broadcaster for NBC, ABC, HBO, and ESPN. In addition, he appeared in movies and television shows and served as a spokesperson for companies such as EA Sports, Vartec Telecom, Track Inc., Ford, Carnation, 7-Up, Nabisco, Coca-Cola, and Revlon. In addition to his promotional activities, Leonard presented motivational speeches to many major Fortune 500 companies in the United States and abroad.

He also was involved in community work, serving for many years as the International Chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk for a Cure. Leonard had four children and lived in Southern California with his second wife, Bernadette.

Online

"Duran Duran," ABC Sports Online,http://espn.go.com/abcsports/wwos/leonard/duran2.html (December 22, 2003).

"Sugar Ray Leonard," CyberBoxingZone,http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/leonard.htm (December 22, 2003).

"Sugar Ray Leonard," Encyclopedia Britannica,http://multirace.org/celebs/celeb37.htm (December 22, 2003).

"Sugar Ray Leonard," IBOF.com,http://www.ibhof.com/srleon.htm (December 22, 2003).

"Sugar Ray Leonard," infoplease, http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0109394.html (December 22, 2003).

Sugar Ray Leonard, MSN Encarta,http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563061/Leonard_Sugar_Ray.html (December 22, 2003).

"Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing," srlboxing.com,http://www.srlboxing.com/srlboxing/bio_leonard.asp (December 22, 2003).

"Sugar Ray Leonard - Former WBA/WBC welterweight, WBA light-middleweight, WBC middleweight, WBC super-middle-weight and WBC light-heavyweight champion," SecondsOut.com,http://www.secondsout.com/legends/legends_31481.asp (December 22, 2003).

"The Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran Trilogy," saddoboxing.com,http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxing-article/Sugar-Ray-Leonard-Roberto-Duran.html (December 22, 2003).

"Sugar Ray Leonard's Toughest fight," INC.com,http://pf.inc.com/magazine/20030601/25524.html (December 22, 2003).

"Sugar Ray was a ring artist," ESPN Classic,http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Leonard_Sugar_Ray.html (December 22, 2003).

boxer; businessperson

Personal Information

Born May 17, 1956, in Wilmington, NC; son of Cicero and Getha Leonard; married Juanita Wilkinson, January 19, 1980 (divorced, 1991); married Bernadette Robi (a model), August 20, 1993; children: (first marriage) Ray Jr., Jarrel.
Education: Graduated from high school in Palmer Park, MD.

Career

Amateur boxer, 1969-76; professional boxer, 1976-91. Became World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion, 1979; won junior middleweight championship, 1981; became undisputed welterweight champion, 1981; in retirement, 1982-84; retired again after one fight, 1984-86; became middleweight champion, 1987; became WBC super middleweight champion and light heavyweight champion, 1988; retired in 1991. Boxing commentator and analyst for television broadcasts; star of exercise video Boxout, 1993. professional boxer, one fight with Hector Camacho, March 1, 1997, retired again.

Life's Work

By his last retirement in 1991, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard had become the first fighter to win titles in five divisions--every weight class from welter on up to light heavyweight. He also had the distinction of being the first boxer ever to earn $100 million in purses. Handsome and glib outside the ring--and unusually crafty within it--Leonard beat a number of formidable opponents on his way to wealth and fame. Sports Illustrated correspondent William Nack called Leonard "the very embodiment of the American dream." Elsewhere in Sports Illustrated Nack claimed that the engaging boxer's career "is the paradigm for the sport."

Melodrama played no small role in Sugar Ray Leonard's professional life. His is a career that might never have gotten started--he "retired" as early as 1976 and claimed to be through with boxing no less than three times before finally retiring in earnest in 1991. His numerous comebacks were celebrated with a great deal of hoopla, attesting to Leonard's healthy ego, but they also proved that the fighter possessed unusual degrees of stamina and determination. Fighting through injuries that might have robbed him of his eyesight, overcoming drug abuse, and beating opponents who were expected to pulverize him became Ray Leonard's signal achievements. As Nack put it, Leonard's "was a remarkable performance, an exercise in guile, nerve, endurance and superior athleticism."

Ray Charles Leonard was born in Wilmington, North Carolina on May 17, 1956. He is named not after a boxer but after jazz great Ray Charles, because his mother wanted him to be a singer. The fifth of seven children, Leonard grew up in Palmer Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC. Palmer Park is hardly a ghetto, but it is not a wealthy community by any means. Sports Illustrated correspondent Rick Reilly called the area "a poor, mixed neighborhood with more than enough trouble to go around."

Somehow the shy Ray Leonard was able to avoid the trouble. He sang with his sisters in a church choir and behaved himself in school. In a Washington Post interview, Leonard's father called the fighter "a funny sort of kid" who "always hung back." He continued: "It used to worry me. All my other boys were always into something, but Ray ... not until boxing."

Leonard discovered boxing when he was 14, and he threw all his energy into it. He was tutored by two volunteer boxing coaches, Dave Jacobs and Janks Morton, both of whom worked out of the Oakcrest Community Center in Palmer Park. Jacobs and Morton knew they had a potential contender in Leonard, so they demanded good discipline outside the ring as well as in it. Sure enough, Leonard compiled a 145-5 record as an amateur and won gold medals at the 1975 Pan American games and the 1976 Summer Olympics. The handsome light-welterweight gained a degree of instant celebrity as one of the American Olympic medalists. His post-fight interviews, Reilly wrote, "delighted the nation."

When Leonard won the gold medal at the Olympics in Montreal, he stunned viewers by announcing his retirement from boxing. "This is my last fight," he said after his difficult decision win over Andres Aldama of Cuba. "My decision is final. My journey is ended, my dream fulfilled." Leonard planned to return home to study at the University of Maryland, but he also planned on receiving some lucrative product endorsements that never materialized. The press revealed that he had fathered a son out of wedlock (he eventually married the child's mother, Juanita Wilkinson), and advertisers balked at the negative publicity. At the same time, both of Leonard's parents fell seriously ill. Feeling that he had to help out with the family burdens, Leonard decided to become a professional boxer after all.

Rather than turn his career over to a boxing promoter, however, Leonard placed his affairs in the hands of attorney Mike Trainer who, with the help of several investors, incorporated Leonard and signed all the shares in the enterprise over to the fighter himself. Trainer also signed Leonard to nonexclusive television contracts and brought in Angelo Dundee, Muhammad Ali's former trainer, to work with the young boxer. Every move Trainer made was designed to promote Leonard's best interests, and while boxing's regular promoters snarled, Leonard used his post-Olympics fame to great advantage. Calling himself "Sugar Ray" after the great Sugar Ray Robinson, Leonard began to compile a record of wins, mostly by technical knockout, over carefully-chosen opponents who could challenge but not overmatch him.

Leonard's ascent through the boxing ranks was hardly smooth sailing, despite the advance publicity he could count on. He often suffered severe pain in his hands for days after a fight, and Dundee's training regimen was fierce and unrelenting. By 1979--just two years after turning pro--Leonard challenged for his first title. In the first welterweight fight in history that paid its participants more than a million dollars apiece, Leonard beat Wilfredo Benitez by a 15th round TKO. Having won the World Boxing Council's welterweight championship, Leonard began to defend his crown. His second title defense brought him into the ring with Roberto Duran, a Panamanian brawler with far more stamina than finesse. Leonard lost his first match with Duran, suffering a brutal beating in a toe-to-toe punchout that perfectly suited Duran's style of fighting.

Leonard's rematch with Duran, held in New Orleans on November 26, 1980, is still known as the "no mas" fight. The match revealed a more canny Leonard, one who could weave, feint, and clearly outbox Duran. Realizing he was being humiliated in the ring, Duran quit fighting in the eighth round, gasping "no mas, no mas" and claiming he had stomach pains. The outing mended Leonard's reputation and added to his reputation for intelligent boxing. He went on to win a 14th round TKO victory over then-undefeated Thomas Hearns to unify the welterweight title. After that, Ray Leonard's troubles began.

During a training bout in 1982, Leonard felt a sharp pain in his left eye. He had suffered a detached retina, a serious and potentially blinding injury. Surgery repaired the damage, but the doctors warned Leonard that fighting could aggravate the condition. Leonard decided to retire. "There isn't enough money in the world for me to risk my eyesight," he told Sports Illustrated at the time. "You can't put a price tag on that." Leonard remained in the limelight by serving as a color commentator at major boxing matches on the Home Box Office cable network, and he finally got the product endorsements he had sought years before. Inevitably his popularity eroded, though, and against the wishes of his wife he decided to make a comeback.

Leonard was haunted by one overriding ambition--to meet Marvin Hagler in the ring. Hagler, a boxer several years Leonard's senior, had been considered almost invincible since he won the middleweight championship in 1980. He therefore served as a silent indictment of Leonard's premature retirement, or so Ray Leonard thought. In 1984 Leonard met unranked Kevin Howard after six weeks of lackluster training, hoping the match would warm him up for Hagler. Howard surprised everyone--especially his opponent--by knocking Leonard to the canvas in the fourth round. Leonard eventually won the fight in the ninth on a TKO, but the match revealed his many deficiencies. He quickly re-retired that same night. This time the retirement lasted just over two years.

Only in the early 1990s was it revealed that Leonard had been abusing alcohol and cocaine during this period. Depressed over the premature end to his career, he turned to drugs and drink for solace. "I didn't want anyone to tell me my career had to end," he said at a press conference in 1991, as printed in the Long Beach Press Telegram. "I used [drugs and alcohol] when I felt bad, I used it when I missed not competing at that level. It was a crutch, something that enabled me to forget." Leonard denied ever being addicted to cocaine and claimed that he quit using it when he began to contemplate yet another comeback. He did not take part in any anti-drug campaigns until he had been free of the substance for several years.

In the autumn of 1986, Leonard returned to serious training, challenged Marvin Hagler to a match, and began boasting that he could defeat one of the most savage and resourceful champions in middleweight history. Leonard and Hagler squared off in the spring of 1987. "By all logic," Nack wrote, "in the face of all history, Leonard should never have been in that ring in the first place. Except for one sad, brief encounter with an unknown fighter in May 1984, he had not fought in five years and 50 days. And yet here he was, facing one of the most remorseless, murderous punchers in the ... middleweight division, without a single tune-up to hone his boxing skills. What he was trying to do was unprecedented in the history of this consuming sport."

Amazingly, Leonard won the 12-round fight, deftly avoiding the punches of an aging Hagler. Nack declared that Leonard, the underdog, scored an "upset of upsets," fought "magnificently," and displayed "great courage and resolve."

After the Hagler match, Leonard decided to improve his physique even further. He added bulk and muscle, worked on his stamina, and strengthened his hands by punching the big bag. On November 7, 1988 he added two more WBC titles to his list by defeating then-super middleweight and light heavyweight champion Donny Lalonde, for the fourth and fifth championship titles he would earn in his career. Then, to the delight of promoters and boxing fans, he signed for a rematch with Thomas Hearns.

The Leonard-Hearns fight in June of 1989 was preceded by all the usual publicity, with each boxer predicting his own victory. At one press conference, Hearns suggested that Leonard had used steroids to enhance his musculature. Leonard took the jibe in stride at the press conference, but afterwards he vehemently denied the suggestion, offering the counter opinion that Hearns had the proverbial "glass jaw." Leonard told the Washington Post: "I'm still ascending, still gaining altitude. I still have the desire, the self-discipline, the self-motivation." Determined though he may have been, Leonard was only able to fight Hearns to a draw--and Hearns knocked him down twice. The match remains one of the most controversial of either fighter's careers.

Leonard took a year off after his meeting with Hearns in order to contemplate his future. With a 36-1-1 record, including 25 knockouts-- and a fortune estimated at nearly $100 million--the specter of retirement began to loom again. Instead Leonard decided to fight the WBC junior middleweight champion Terry Norris, a man 11 years his junior. "I knew I had to fight again," Leonard told Sports Illustrated. "I have to know that I've taken my talent as far as it can go. I want to be the guy who says, 'Leonard, it's time to quit.' I don't want anybody else telling me that. It's my life, my career, my decision."

Norris defeated Leonard soundly in a 12-round fight on February 9, 1991. Immediately following the match Leonard announced his retirement for the last time. "I had a great career," he told Sports Illustrated. "It took this fight to show me it is no longer my time. I am not of the '90s. I feel very good. I enjoyed my career tremendously. I wouldn't change a thing."

Leonard has indeed turned a page since 1991 and has embarked on other enterprises. In 1993 he signed with International Creative Management, a Los Angeles-based talent agency, with the hopes of having an acting career. He also released an exercise video, Boxout, that incorporates some of his training techniques from his boxing days. His first marriage having ended in divorce, Leonard married model Bernadette Robi in August of 1993. The newlyweds bought a house in the exclusive Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles--the residence boasts six bedrooms, a solarium, a game room, an exercise room, a sauna, a wine cellar, a tennis court, a swimming pool with a bath house, a fountain and an orchid greenhouse.

Fabulous wealth and instant recognition are the lasting legacies of Leonard's boxing career. In 1993 he told Ebony: "I will always miss the ring. I truly, truly love boxing. I love beating the odds. There is nothing that compares to that feeling you get from winning. It takes the body, the mind, the heart, the inner spirit. And I was able to overcome some incredible odds." He concluded: "Some people look down on boxing as barbaric, but it's a wonderful sport. It has enabled me to have an incredible life, not just materialistically, but because I've been exposed to so much and I've been able to give back. The gratitude I get back from helping people, kids in particular, is worth more than everything I've done. I'm truly happy."

But not happy enough, evidently, to resist the siren song of a comeback once again. On March 1, 1997, Leonard fought Hector "Macho" Camacho in Atlantic City, losing in the fifth round, the first knockout of his career. Despite the loss, he still managed to earn $4 million, a feat that prompted the Newark Star-Ledger to call Leonard's performance a "con job," bluntly stating that "Leonard could not fight ... Camacho had a hollow shell in front of him."

True to form, Sugar Ray "retired" while still in the ring: "I'm sure my career is definitely over ...," quoted CBS Sportsline USA, "... I'm through." Just as predictably, he threw his hat back into the ring weeks later, telling ESPN's "Up Close" that "Yes, I would fight again. I want to, I'm going to....[W]ill I go back and try to fight a champion right away? No, I'm gonna take it easy and go through a series of tuneups to get myself back where I was two months ago." Leonard was inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame on June 15, 1997.

Awards

Gold medals at Pan American games, 1975, and Summer Olympic Games, 1976.

Further Reading

Sources

• Ebony, November 1993, p. 26-30.
• Long Beach Press-Telegram, March 31, 1991, p. 1C.
• People, September 6, 1993, p. 88-89.
• Sports Illustrated, September 8, 1986; March 30, 1987; April 13, 1987; April 20, 1987; November 21, 1988; December 4, 1989, p. 80-86; December 18, 1989, p 24-25; February 18, 1991, p. 22-25; September 19, 1994, p. 128-29.
• Star-Ledger, March 3, 1997.
• Washington Post, August 26, 1977; May 28, 1989; May 29, 1989; June 11, 1989.

• Associated Press. "Leonard, King to Enter in Boxing Hall of Fame."
• Caller-Times Interactive: Sports, January 15, 1997.
• CBS SportsLine USA, Inc. online service, "Sugar Ray Leonard Unretires Again, accessed 1997.

— Mark Kram and Amy Loerch Strumolo

Quotes:

"I want to be great, something special."

Sugar Ray Leonard

Ray Charles Leonard
Statistics
Real name	Ray Charles Leonard
Nickname(s)	Sugar
Rated at	Welterweight
Nationality	American
Birth date	May 17, 1956 (1956-05-17) (age 53)
Birth place	Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	40
Wins	36
Wins by KO	25
Losses	3
Draws	1
No contests	0

Olympic medal record
Men’s Boxing
Gold	1976 Montreal	Light Welterweight

Sugar Ray Leonard (born Ray Charles Leonard on May 17, 1956) is a retired American professional boxer [1]. Named Fighter of the Decade for the 1980s, he is widely considered to be one of the best boxers of all time, winning world titles at multiple weights and engaging in contests with such celebrated opponents as Wilfred Benitez, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler. He was named after the singing legend Ray Charles. Leonard was given the nickname "Sugar" by his wife Juanita Wilkinson.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Amateur 1.1.1 Achievements 1.2 Professional 1.2.1 First world title 1.2.2 The Brawl in Montreal 1.2.3 Second world title 1.2.4 Retirement and return 1.3 Marvin Hagler 1.4 Don Lalonde 1.5 Terry Norris 1.6 Hector Camacho 2 Personal life 3 Professional ventures 4 See also 5 External links

Career

Amateur

Before he was 20, Leonard had won three National Golden Gloves titles, two AAU championships and the 1975 Pan-American Games crown. Leonard earned a spot on the 1976 Olympic team, which included future heavyweight champions Michael Spinks and his brother Leon. Leonard, up to that point in his amateur career, had lost only five fights, among them a contested bout in 1974 against Kazimierz Szczerba of Poland.

A lot of amateur boxing observers thought that the great Cuban knockout artist Andres Aldama would defeat the 20-year-old Leonard in the Olympic final. Aldama was virtually a pro and had scored 5 straight knockouts to reach the finals. Leonard brought Aldama to his knees with a left hook to the chin. Twice during the final round, the referee had required Aldama to take a standing eight-count to prove that he was able to continue the fight. Although Aldama persisted in the match, Leonard emerged the victor by a 5-0 decision and won the gold medal for the United States. It was Leonard's 145th victory as an amateur boxer.

After winning the Olympic gold Leonard announced to the press, “The journey is over, the dream fulfilled” and he retired from boxing, telling the public that he wanted to go to college. Leonard had hoped to cash in on endorsements but they never came. With the bills piling up and sickness in his family he decided to turn professional.

Achievements

• 1972 National Golden Gloves Lightweight Champion
• 1973 National Golden Gloves Lightweight Champion, defeating Hilmer Kenty
• 1973 Runner-up in National AAU Light Welterweight Championships, losing to Randy Shields
• 1974 National AAU Light Welterweight Champion
• 1974 National Golden Gloves Light Welterweight Champion
• 1975 National AAU Light Welterweight Champion
• Won the Light Welterweight Gold Medal for the United States at the 1975 Pan American Games
• Won the Light Welterweight Gold Medal for the United States at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Olympic Results

• Defeated Ulf Carlsson (Sweden) points 5-0
• Defeated Valery Limassov (Soviet Union) points 5-0
• Defeated Clinton McKenzie (Great Britain) points 5-0
• Defeated Ulrich Beyer (East Germany) points 5-0
• Defeated Kazimierz Szczerba (Poland) points 5-0
• Defeated Andres Aldama (Cuba) points 5-0

Professional

After this success, Leonard wanted to attend the University of Maryland. However, his father became ill and his family needed money. With no endorsement contracts coming his way, Leonard announced his intention to become a pro boxer.

Angelo Dundee, Muhammad Ali's trainer, was brought in to be Leonard's trainer and manager. Long-time coaches Janks Morton, Dave Jacobs and lawyer Mike Trainer made up the rest of Leonard's team. Promoted by ABC TV as their replacement for the aging Ali, Leonard made $40,000 for his first professional fight (then a record) against Puerto Rican Luis Vega. The fight was televised nationally on CBS-TV, and the novice Leonard won by a 6 round unanimous decision.

Leonard won his first 25 pro fights. In Sugar Ray's most impressive performance to date, he knocked out Pete Ranzany in 4 rounds to win the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) welterweight championship. This bout took place in August 1979. A month later, a 1st round KO of respected contender Andy Price followed. Price had won his last four bouts, three of them in 1979, but was decisively beaten by Leonard. Leonard then signed to meet the undefeated WBC World Welterweight Champion Wilfred Benitez in November.

First world title

In a highly competitive battle, Leonard became world champion with a technical knockout in round 15, with the referee stopping the fight in Leonard's favor with six seconds left. Leonard led by 2, 4, and 7 points on the three judges' scorecard at the time of the stoppage.

The Ring Magazine named Leonard the Fighter of the Year for 1979.

In March 1980, Leonard won his 1st defense by easily beating British challenger Dave "Boy" Green with a devastating 4th round knockout in Landover, Maryland. Green had been a very busy fighter, having fought 6 times in 1979, winning 5 of them.

The Brawl in Montreal

Leonard returned to the Montreal Olympic Stadium to defend his title against former World Lightweight Champion Roberto Duran, in the first superfight of the 1980s that was dubbed "The Brawl in Montreal" by Sports Illustrated. In a long, grueling contest, mostly fought against the ropes or in corners, the more experienced Duran outmauled Leonard in a very close fight and captured a unanimous decision. Leonard surprised many observers by standing flat-footed with the Panamanian slugger.

Their rematch was held in New Orleans on November 25, 1980. This time around, Leonard used far more lateral movement and jabs, staying off the ropes whenever possible. In round 7, Leonard taunted Duran, dropping his arms and winding up with a bolo punch. Neither fighter had absorbed much punishment, but Leonard had a narrow lead on all three scorecards after 7 rounds. In round 8, Duran turned around, walked to his corner and gave up. Although Duran is widely remembered for the now famous words, "no más," he never actually said them. It was actually commentator Howard Cosell who uttered the phrase, which inspired an angry comment from Duran in a 2005 article about the fight (however, the article makes it clear that Duran did quit, as he actually said the Spanish equivalent of "I can't continue"). Regardless, the sports world was stunned by Duran's actions. The controversy regarding this bout and Duran's motivation for quitting continues to this day. However, in an interview with ESPN, Duran had stated that he had started to get stomach cramps and felt it better to quit now than suffer through it. Trainer and TV commentator Gil Clancy opined that perhaps Duran was on the verge of defecating. [2] In an episode of FOX Sports's Beyond The Glory, Duran's trainer said that Duran had turned to him and said "I won't fight anymore with this clown." [3] Duran's manager, Carlos Eleta, said, "Duran didn't quit because of stomach cramps. He quit because he was embarrassed."

Leonard was a world champion again and, after avenging his only defeat, once more was on top of the boxing world.

In March 1981, Leonard scored a routine 10th round TKO of unheralded Larry Bonds in a welterweight title defense.

Second world title

On June 25, 1981, Leonard fought Ayub Kalule, the undefeated WBA World Junior Middleweight Champion. Kalule gave Leonard a tough fight, but Sugar Ray won via a 9th round TKO.

Undefeated arch-rival Thomas Hearns, meanwhile, was tearing apart the welterweight division and had won the WBA world title by knocking out Pipino Cuevas in the 2nd round. Hearns seemed unbeatable, having scored 30 KO's in 32 fights with no losses. A unification bout was set for September 16, 1981 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hearns unexpectedly weighed in at a very light 145 pounds, causing many to speculate he over-trained. "The Showdown" was televised on closed-circuit and pay-per-view outlets throughout the world.

Hearns (32-0) controlled the early rounds with his jab, keeping Leonard (30-1) off-balance. In the middle rounds, Leonard got inside and seriously hurt Hearns with left hooks. From rounds 8-12, Hearns rebounded and took charge by becoming the boxer, using side-to-side movement, steady jabs and occasional right crosses. Leonard's left eye, injured during a sparring session two weeks earlier, began to swell up. By the end of round 12, it was almost completely closed.

Warned by trainer Angelo Dundee that he was "blowing it," Leonard roared out in the 13th round and seriously hurt Hearns with a barrage of punches and knocked him down. Hearns barely survived the round. In the 14th, a combination of blows prompted the referee to stop the fight. At the time of the stoppage, all 3 judges had Hearns ahead on points. Leonard was now the undisputed welterweight champion, and had greatly increased his popularity and respect among some sports fans. Hearns's manager and trainer, Emanuel Steward, agreed with the stoppage. Steward said, "I was talking to Tommy and all of a sudden his head slumped down. He was out of gas. I knew right then it was over."[4]

Some disagreed with the judges' scorecards, arguing that rounds six and seven should have been given to Leonard by 10-8 margins. In those 2 rounds, Hearns was badly hurt but didn't go down. All three judges scored those rounds 10-9 for Leonard. [5]

Sugar Ray was later named Fighter of the Year by The Ring Magazine for 1981, and they also tabbed his fight with Hearns as Fight of the Year. In addition, Ray was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year and Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

Retirement and return

In November 1982, after consulting with doctors, friends and family, Sugar Ray invited Hagler and other boxing dignitaries to a charity event in Baltimore, Maryland. Standing in a boxing ring with ABC's Howard Cosell nearby, Leonard announced his retirement, saying a bout with Hagler would unfortunately never happen. Leonard maintained his eye was fully healed, but that he just didn't want to box anymore. In retirement, Leonard continued to be a commentator for HBO & CBS boxing contests, and performed other assignments for them. He also did more endorsements.

Ahead were very difficult times: Leonard admitted to a stint with cocaine that lasted from 1982 to 1986. He fell victim to the drug, and reports surfaced of violence against his wife. Leonard admitted that his problems were caused by a need to be involved in the sport of boxing during the periods he was away from it, and immaturity.

Missing the limelight and the competition, Leonard announced in December 1983 that he was returning to the ring. This was the first of what would be several boxing comebacks during his career. Leonard boasted that he would re-claim his welterweight titles, and then take on Aaron Pryor, Donald Curry, Milton McCrory, Duran, Hearns and finally Hagler. This decision was met with a torrent of criticism from fans and the media, who felt Leonard was taking unnecessary risks with his surgically repaired eye.

A bout with Philadelphia's Kevin Howard was scheduled for February 1984 in Worcester, Massachusetts. This was postponed until May 11 when Leonard had minor corrective surgery on his right eye. This latest eye injury further fueled the flames of those who opposed Leonard's comeback.

The Leonard-Howard bout was televised live on HBO. Howard knocked Leonard flat on his back in the 4th round. It was the first knockdown of Leonard's professional career. The fight had a disputed ending, with some feeling that the referee stopped the fight prematurely. At the post-fight press conference, Leonard surprised everyone by announcing his retirement again, saying he just didn't have it anymore.

Marvin Hagler

In May 1986, Leonard shocked the sports world once again when he announced he would return to the ring for one more fight: against World Middleweight Champion Marvin Hagler. This announcement generated a lot of controversy because of Leonard's inactivity and eye injuries. Yet it also excited many sports fans, who had wanted to see this match for years. Hagler took a few months to decide, then agreed to the match, scheduled for April 6, 1987 at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

Leonard had a very long training camp for the Hagler fight. After the Hagler fight, it was revealed that Leonard had a number of full 12 round fights behind closed doors. These were officially sparring sessions, but with a few major differences. There were no headguards used, small gloves and the sparring partners were told to try their best to win over the full 12 rounds.

Two of the sparring were Quincy Taylor, future WBC World Middleweight Champion, and Anthony Fletcher (who was a southpaw). Taylor floored Leonard during one of these 'fights'.

The bout against Hagler was marketed by the promoters as "The Superfight". In exchange for more money, an over-confident Hagler agreed to a 12 round limit (which guaranteed WBC sanction) and Reyes gloves, and a 20 foot ring. The 12 round limit would haunt Hagler later on. Leonard-Hagler was broadcast on pay-per-view TV and closed-circuit outlets all over the world and was a huge money maker.

Hagler was a heavy favorite, the odds starting at 4-1, then settling at 3-1. Leonard had only fought once in five years, and had never fought as a middleweight. It was only Hagler's third fight in two & a half years as he entered the twilight of a glittering career. Leonard used the same tactics as he did in the 2nd Duran match, lateral movement, jabs and clinching when he was in trouble. Hagler had trouble keeping up with the fleet-footed Leonard. In general, Hagler landed the harder blows and Leonard landed more punches and the flashier ones. Neither fighter was knocked down. Leonard was warned repeatedly for holding by the referee, but no points were deducted. The decision went to Leonard via split decision. Hagler bitterly protested the result, and many boxing fans and writers have argued about the decision since he had retired .

Don Lalonde

On November 7, 1988 Leonard came back and fought Don LaLonde. Leonard suffered a 4th round knockdown and was cut on the nose. Yet he recovered and knocked out Lalonde in the ninth round to win two world titles in one fight, the newly created WBC Super Middleweight Championship, and Lalonde's WBC Light Heavyweight Championship. This arrangement was somewhat controversial because light-heavyweight LaLonde had to weigh-in at or below the super-middleweight limit of 168 pounds.

In 1989, Leonard fought two old rivals. In June, he battled Hearns again at Caesar's Palace. In an exciting battle, Leonard was knocked down twice, but the decision by the officials was a twelve round draw. It was controversial, as most onlookers thought Hearns deserved the decision. Years later, Leonard said he too thought Hearns won the fight and he considered their rivalry tied at one win each. Nevertheless, the draw decision enabled Leonard to retain his WBC Super Middleweight title. Six months later, in December 1989, Sugar Ray fought Roberto Duran for a 3rd time. This matchup took place at the new Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. Leonard used constant lateral movement and won by a lopsided twelve round unanimous decision over a listless Duran. In a fight that many considered to be very boring, both fighters were booed often by the fans and many left the arena before the decision was announced. Pat Putnam of Sports Illustrated wrote, "Leonard gave them artistic perfection when they wanted heated battle, and they booed lustily. Most fight fans would not spend a dime to watch Van Gogh paint Sunflowers, but they would fill Yankee Stadium to see him cut off his ear."

Terry Norris

Leonard offered Hearns a 3rd fight, but Hearns said he could no longer make the weight and he moved up to the light heavyweight division.[6] Leonard was inactive in 1990, but came back in February 1991 to fight World Junior Middleweight Champion Terry Norris at Madison Square Garden. Norris knocked Leonard down twice and won a lopsided unanimous decision. After the verdict was announced, a battered Leonard took the microphone and once again announced his retirement.

Around this time, Leonard's job as a boxing commentator with HBO came to an end. His association with CBS had ended a few years earlier.

Hector Camacho

In 1997, at age 40, Leonard launched what was his final boxing comeback against former lightweight champion Hector Camacho. Years past his prime, Leonard was stopped by the smaller, usually light-hitting Camacho in 5 rounds. Controlling the action from the start, Camacho floored Leonard in the fifth round with a beautiful combination -- a right to the head, followed by three left hooks to the face. Leonard went down to his knees, and he was badly hurt. He tried to rise at the count of three, but he stumbled back to the canvas. And when Leonard rose at the count of six, he was clearly on wobbly legs.

Referee Joe Cortez asked Leonard whether he wanted to continue, and when he nodded that he did, Camacho moved in for the finish. He stalked Leonard into the ropes, then unleashed 10 unanswered punches to Leonard's head and midsection. A left hook rocked Leonard's head back violently. Cortez had seen enough, and he moved in to stop the action at 1 minute 8 seconds of the fifth round.

It was a sad comeback for Leonard, one of the sport's all-time greats, who at 40 returned after a layoff of more than six years. And Leonard looked every bit of his age. His footwork was awkward. His jab was ineffective and lacked snap. He missed badly with many right hands. And when Camacho applied pressure, Leonard wilted without much resistance.

In retaining his International Boxing Council middleweight title, Camacho executed his game plan to perfection. He stayed in Leonard's face, keeping constant pressure on his opponent, never allowing Leonard to establish a rhythm. Many people did not want Leonard to return, and after the fight, he promised once again that he would retire for good. And Leonard revealed that he had been hospitalized last month because of trouble with his right calf.

I never got into it, Leonard said. For a while I was O.K. I tried to establish my jab, but I couldn't get it established. There was a rumor that I was hospitalized a couple of weeks ago, and it was true. I had trouble with my calf.

Camacho fought a superb fight. I thought my right hand was landing, but every time I reached out, I was off balance. He was always one step ahead of me. Camacho was a lot more focused and determined than he was against Roberto Duran. My career is definitely over.

Leonard's first real trouble came in the fourth round, when a cut opened over his left eyebrow. The left eye is the same eye that was surgically repaired in 1982, when Leonard suffered a detached retina. This cut was not a deep one, and it was a half-inch but above the eye. But it gave Leonard something else to worry about, and it proved to Camacho that he was controlling the fight.

The third round was another Camacho round. First he sent Leonard stumbling backward with a left to the face. Leonard did not appear to be hurt, but his balance did not appear as sharp as he wanted it to be. In Round 1, Leonard stumbled to the canvas when Camacho pushed him back with a forearm and Leonard's feet became tangled. Camacho was the aggressor from the opening bell, and he clearly wanted to keep pressure on Leonard to test his stamina. Camacho landed a few hard jabs early, while Leonard spent more time trying to set up punches than throwing them.

Leonard (36-3-1) entered the ring to the tune of Michael Jackson's Bad, perhaps wanting to hear a tune that was popular when he was still fighting regularly. The crowd gave Leonard a warm ovation as he climbed through the ropes, and he entered the ring wearing black trunks and a familiar look of determination on his face.

When Camacho made his way toward the ring, the crowd of 10,324 had a mixed reaction. It was clear that Leonard was the people's choice, but Camacho was hardly intimidated. Camacho's ring attire is often as wild as his personality, and he did not disappoint tonight. Wearing a Roman emperor-type robe, complete with helmet and red cape, Camacho strutted around the ring with his usual bravado.

Camacho looked good. And when the fight started, he looked even better. All along, Camacho insisted that Leonard's comeback would end in failure.With the 41 year old still fighting Camacho said he was sure to end it, after a nightmare start leonard coulnt keep up and his age soon proved to pay. After a devastating 4 rounds Leonard was finished and 1 minute into the fifth round Leonard was made to pay for coming back into boxing. By 1:08 of the 5th round the man who once controlled the sport was finished. After this defeat, it was finally enough for Leonard, and he retired for the final time.

Personal life

Leonard married his high school sweetheart Juanita Wilkinson, from Parkdale High and had two sons. Leonard and Wilkinson later divorced, and in 1994, he married Bernadette Robi, the daughter of Paul Robi. In 1997, Leonard was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame. Ray's older brother, Roger Leonard, was also a professional boxer, as well as an amateur standout. He frequently fought on the undercard of Ray's bouts.[7]

Professional ventures

For a short time, Leonard headed a boxing promotion company that included world cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov and rising heavyweight Joe Mesi.

He was a recurring cast member of the American action television series, L.A. Heat in the role of Det. Benny Lewis. He also played an undertaker in one episode of Tales From The Crypt.

He is currently involved in the TV reality boxing series, The Contender and has served as host and boxing mentor to the aspiring fighters. His former co-host Sylvester Stallone was one of the executive producers, along with Mark Burnett.

See also

• List of WBC world champions
• The No Más Fight
• Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns
• List of boxing triple champions‎
• List of boxing quadruple champions
• List of boxing quintuple champions

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sugar Ray Leonard

• Professional boxing record for Sugar Ray Leonard from Boxrec
• Ray Leonard's Amateur Boxing Record
• Sugar Ray Leonard's U.S. Olympic Team bio
• Ian Palmer's TigerBoxing article on Leonard vs Duran I

Sporting positions
Preceded by Wilfred Benítez	Ring Magazine Welterweight Champion 30 Nov 1979 – 20 Jun 1980	Succeeded by Roberto Durán
Preceded by Roberto Durán	Ring Magazine Welterweight Champion 25 Nov 1980 – 9 Nov 1982 Retires	Vacant Title next held by Donald Curry
Preceded by Ayub Kalule	Ring Magazine Junior Middleweight Champion 25 Jun 1981 – 25 Jun 1982 Retires	Vacant Title next held by Thomas Hearns
Preceded by Marvin Hagler	Ring Magazine Middleweight Champion 6 Apr 1987 – 11 Nov 1988 Retires	Vacant Title next held by Sumbu Kalambay
Preceded by Wilfred Benítez	WBC Welterweight Champion 30 Nov 1979 – 20 Jun 1980	Succeeded by Roberto Durán
Preceded by Roberto Durán	WBC Welterweight Champion 25 Nov 1980 – 9 Nov 1982 Retires	Vacant Title next held by Milton McCrory
Preceded by Ayub Kalule	WBA Junior Middleweight Champion 25 Jun 1981 – 1981 Vacates	Vacant Title next held by Tadashi Mihara
Preceded by Thomas Hearns	WBA Welterweight Champion 16 Sep 1981 – 9 Nov 1982 Retires	Vacant Title next held by Donald Curry
Vacant Title last held by José Nápoles	Undisputed Welterweight Champion 16 Sep 1981 – 9 Nov 1982 Retires	Vacant Title next held by Donald Curry
Preceded by Marvin Hagler	WBC Middleweight Champion 6 Apr 1987 – 27 May 1987 Retires	Vacant Title next held by Thomas Hearns
Preceded by Donny Lalonde	WBC Light Heavyweight Champion 7 Nov 1988 – 21 Feb 1989 Retires	Vacant Title next held by Dennis Andries
Inaugural Champion	WBC Super Middleweight Champion 7 Nov 1988 – 15 Dec 1990 Retires	Vacant Title next held by Mauro Galvano
Awards
Preceded by Muhammad Ali	Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 1979	Succeeded by Thomas Hearns
Preceded by Thomas Hearns	Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year Shared award with Salvador Sánchez 1981	Succeeded by Larry Holmes

v • d • e Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year 1954: Roger Bannister · 1955: Johnny Podres · 1956: Bobby Joe Morrow · 1957: Stan Musial · 1958: Rafer Johnson · 1959: Ingemar Johansson · 1960: Arnold Palmer · 1961: Jerry Lucas · 1962: Terry Baker · 1963: Pete Rozelle · 1964: Ken Venturi · 1965: Sandy Koufax · 1966: Jim Ryun · 1967: Carl Yastrzemski · 1968: Bill Russell · 1969: Tom Seaver · 1970: Bobby Orr · 1971: Lee Trevino · 1972: Billie Jean King & John Wooden · 1973: Jackie Stewart · 1974: Muhammad Ali · 1975: Pete Rose · 1976: Chris Evert · 1977: Steve Cauthen · 1978: Jack Nicklaus · 1979: Terry Bradshaw & Willie Stargell · 1980: U.S. Olympic Hockey Team · 1981: Sugar Ray Leonard · 1982: Wayne Gretzky · 1983: Mary Decker · 1984: Edwin Moses & Mary Lou Retton · 1985: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar · 1986: Joe Paterno · 1987: Bob Bourne, Judi Brown King, Kipchoge Keino, Dale Murphy, Chip Rives, Patty Sheehan, Rory Sparrow, & Reggie Williams · 1988: Orel Hershiser · 1989: Greg LeMond · 1990: Joe Montana · 1991: Michael Jordan · 1992: Arthur Ashe · 1993: Don Shula · 1994: Bonnie Blair & Johann Olav Koss · 1995: Cal Ripken, Jr. · 1996: Tiger Woods · 1997: Dean Smith · 1998: Mark McGwire & Sammy Sosa · 1999: U.S. Women's Soccer Team · 2000: Tiger Woods · 2001: Curt Schilling & Randy Johnson · 2002: Lance Armstrong · 2003: David Robinson & Tim Duncan · 2004: Boston Red Sox · 2005: Tom Brady · 2006: Dwyane Wade · 2007: Brett Favre · 2008: Michael Phelps

v • d • e Olympic Boxing Champions in Men's Light Welterweight 1952–2000: 60–63.5 kg, 2004-2008: 60-64 kg 1952: Charles Adkins (USA) • 1956: Vladimir Yengibaryan (URS) • 1960: Bohumil Němeček (TCH) • 1964–1968: Jerzy Kulej (POL) • 1972: Ray Seales (USA) • 1976: Ray Leonard (USA) • 1980: Patrizio Oliva (ITA) • 1984: Jerry Page (USA) • 1988: Vyacheslav Yanovskiy (URS) • 1992–1996: Héctor Vinent (CUB) • 2000: Mahammatkodir Abdoollayev (UZB) • 2004: Manus Boonjumnong (THA) • 2008: Manuel Félix Díaz (DOM)

v • d • e Pan American Boxing Champions in Men's Light Welterweight 1951 – 1999: up to 63,5 kg • 2003 – 2007: up to 64 kg 1951: Oscar Pietta (ARG)  •  1955: Juan Carlos Rivero (ARG)  •  1959: Vincent Shomo (USA)  •  1963: Adolfo Moreyra (ARG)  •  1967: James Wallington (USA)  •  1971: Enrique Reguiferos (CUB)  •  1975: Ray Leonard (USA)  •  1979: Lemuel Steeples (USA)  •  1983 – 1987: Candelario Duvergel (CUB)  •  1991: Stevie Johnston (USA)  •  1995: Walter Crucce (ARG)  •  1999: Victor Hugo Castro (ARG)  •  2003: Patrick López (VEN)  •  2007: Karl Dargan (USA)

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